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CWA # 2282, 1 September 2026
PR Explainer
Pakistan’s National Commission for Minorities:

  Madhura Meenakshi Tanikella
Madhura Meenakshi Tanikella is an undergraduate student from the Department of Political Science, School of Liberal Arts, Alliance University, Bengaluru. She is currently an intern at NIAS.

On 12 August 2026, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said that his government was taking steps to establish an independent commission to protect minority rights, while speaking at an event on National Minorities Day. He added that minority communities, including Christians, Hindus, Parsis, and Sikhs, have continued to play a part in creating a cohesive society and have played a role in the development of the country. 

What is Pakistan's National Commission for Minorities (NCM)?
The National Commission for Minorities is a national body that is aimed at promoting and protecting minority rights in Pakistan by monitoring the implementation of constitutional guarantees and safeguards, developing a national action plan, examining and reviewing existing and proposed policies, making recommendations on government policies, monitoring issues involving places of worship, and promoting equality and inclusion. The announcement of its establishment on 12 August 2026 by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif follows the passing of the National Commission for Minorities Bill 2025 in a joint session of parliament on 02 December 2025. This bill received assent from President Asif Ali Zardari on 17 December 2025. Under this legislation, minorities are defined as persons who are “non-Muslims” as defined in Article 260 of Pakistan’s Constitution, and it defines “minority rights” in reference to Article 20, which discusses freedom to profess religion and manage religious institutions. 

What is the history of the NCM?
The initial inklings of the commission date back to 1990, when, through a cabinet decision, an NCM was established under PM Benazir Bhutto’s first tenure; however, since it was established as an executive body, scholars from the ICWA argue that this body lacked rules regarding its functioning and that its legal status remained in question. The issues again gained significance in 2014 when the Supreme Court took suo motu cognisance, following the attack on All Saints Church in Peshawar in 2013. This judgment directed the central government to establish a National Council for Minorities to act as a watchdog for constitutional safeguards and policy, also directing the government to protect minority places of worship and ensure implementation of the minority employment quota. Subsequently, in 2016, under the then-launched National Action Plan for Human Rights, the government pledged to submit a bill establishing a statutory National Commission on Minorities by December of the same year. In 2018, the National Assembly took up three Private Members’ Bills concerning the Minority Commission for discussion. Notably, in 2020, through a notification by the Ministry of Religious Affairs and Inter-faith Harmony, an NCM was established, consisting of 18 members; its term ended in 2023. After this, in 2025, the NCM Bill was introduced, discussed, amended, and eventually passed. 

Who are the minorities in Pakistan, and what is their demographic composition? 
The definition of a minority, according to the UN OHCHR, following the 2005 World Summit of Heads of State and Government, is “An ethnic, religious or linguistic minority is any group of persons which constitutes less than half of the population in the entire territory of a State whose members share common characteristics of culture, religion or language, or a combination of any of these.” Under the 2025 Act, which defined minorities as “non-Muslims” under Article 260 clarifies a person who is Christian, Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Parsi, Quadiani, Lahori(Ahmadis), Bahai, and a person belonging to any of the Scheduled Castes as minorities. Therefore, according to the 2023 Population and Housing Census, Pakistan remains overwhelmingly Muslim, with its population being approximately 240.46 million. Non-Muslims collectively constituted approximately 3.65 per cent or 8.77 million people. The officially enumerated communities were Hindus 1.61 per cent, Christians 1.37 per cent, and Scheduled Castes 0.56 per cent. The census also recorded approximately 163,000 Ahmadis, 16,000 Sikhs, 2,348 Parsis, and approximately 72,000 persons belonging to other religions. These populations are geographically concentrated, with Sindh containing the largest Hindu and Scheduled Caste populations, while Punjab contains the largest Christian population. 

What are the issues faced by Pakistan's religious minorities?
The key challenges faced by minorities, as documented by Pakistan-based human-rights institutions and international observers, predominantly include physical security, religious freedom, access to justice, discrimination, and the lack of implementation of existing legal protections. One recurrent issue, often discussed, is forced conversion and marriage. The National Commission on the Rights of the Child, citing the Centre for Social Justice, records 421 cases of forced conversion between 2021 and 2024, including 282 Hindus, 137 Christians, and two Sikhs, with 71 per cent of them being children. Additionally, legislation on blasphemy and associated violence is another concern presented. The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan reported that more than 750 people were imprisoned on blasphemy charges as of October 2024, while noting that these accusations disproportionately affect minorities. Moreover, minorities also face socioeconomic discrimination, with shortcomings in implementing the 5 per cent government employment quota. The National Commission for Human Rights, in a 2022 report, notes that 80 per cent of non-Muslims appointed under the reserved positions were concentrated in low-paid grades, while nearly half of the posts reserved for minorities were unoccupied. Furthermore, for some specific religious minorities, such as the Ahmadis, restrictions on religious expression constitute a whole other set of challenges. 

References
https://www.dawn.com/news/2022286
https://www.icwa.in/show_content.php?lang=1&level=3&ls_id=5025&lid=3657
https://www.isas.nus.edu.sg/papers/national-commission-for-minorities-in-pakistan-problems-of-inclusion-jurisdiction-independence-and-legitimacy/
https://www.app.com.pk/national/minorities-played-pivotal-role-in-pakistans-development-pm/
https://constitutionnet.org/news/pakistans-parliament-approves-law-establish-body-dedicated-protecting-minority-rights
https://minorityrights.org/country/pakistan/
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/354825648_Religious_Minority_Rights_and_their_Satisfaction_in_Pakistan
https://www.loc.gov/item/global-legal-monitor/2026-01-26/pakistan-parliament-creates-national-commission-to-protect-religious-minority-rights/
https://forbinfull.org/2024/06/19/ten-long-years-reflections-on-the-supreme-court-ruling-that-promised-much-for-pakistans-religious-minorities/
https://www.mora.gov.pk/Detail/NDBhZWViZDUtZmEzOC00ZDlhLWJiMzEtM2MwZDQzZjNiMWM5
https://nchr.gov.pk/press_release/test/
https://ncrc.gov.pk/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Minority-Children-Situational-Analysis.pdf
https://hrcp-web.org/hrcpweb/hrcp-report-condemns-scale-and-frequency-of-mob-attacks-against-minorities/
https://www.ohchr.org/en/special-procedures/sr-minority-issues/about-minorities-and-human-rights
https://persecutionofahmadis.org/introduction/relevant-laws/2021/05/01/status-of-ahmadis-in-the-constitution-of-pakistan/

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